Need software recommendations
 

I have a small retail store. we currently use Front Page to maintain a simple web site. FP is no longer supported so I need a recommendation for a replacement. I don't want to learn code. Some have recommended Adobe Dream Weaver or Adobe Contribute. Any recommendations for one over the other or other software that is easy to use and learn.

Thanks,

BernieP

Get a CMS like wordpress and find a theme that suits your basic needs then customize with your graphics.

Joomla will be a choice but I find it tries to do too much. Drupal requires more chops.

You want to get away from creating static pages and build a dynamic site. Meaning you input new content and the back end makes it look nice.

I have used Adobe Contribute and find it very easy to create/modify/update my website...

One more vote for a CMS and/or Dreamweaver.

There is (or used to be) a 30 day trial of the full features of DW, and it includes a really good tutorial.

When you say "no longer supported" does this mean you seek help now and then or a lot or will the software stop working at a certain date? The reason I ask is that unless the need to get support is constant and happens a lot, then a change should not be necessary? As for questions, there are several forums that have lots of help for this software and you could get help that way I imagine?

If a new browser becomes an issue so your website does not want to run then the time for upgrade is at hand, otherwise I would say spend the $$$$ on Christmas presents for your wife and kids or other loved ones.

FP was retired years ago by Microsoft. There were a lot of web hosting companies that still offered FP server side extensions for users. I think that as the years go on and these companies upgrade equipment, they stop trying to run FP, so their users are out of luck.

Solutions like Frontpage or Dreamweaver are for programming... Sure you CAN do some basic drag and drop stuff, but if you want something really nice, you end up coding.

Look into Content Management Systems (CMS) like Wordpress or Joomla. These are essentially user-friendly frameworks installed on a server. Then a template or skin is applied over the top of it. Adding content is through a basic word-processing type interface and additional functionality is installed by adding "modules" and telling the CMS framework where you want them.

Check out this site: Here is one example of a company selling predefined templates. You simply change the content, add articles, tweak graphics. Template Showcase

Plenty of places (full discolusure, this includes my company) that will host and setup the site for you, then you just add content via the interwebs.